System and method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network

ABSTRACT

Embodiments relate to a system and a method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network. A Remote Digital Antenna Digital Receiver (“RDADR”) is coupled to multiple Remote Digital Antenna (“RDAs”). The RDADR and the multiple RDAs are coupled via a digital bus. The multiple RDAs attempt to receive one or more digital signals from a transmitter. If the one or more digital signals are received without an error by one of the multiple RDAs, the RDA that received the one or more error-free digital signals sends the digital signals to the RDADR using the digital bus. The redundant real-time wireless receiver network provides a reliable and fault tolerant system to deliver digital audio signals in real-time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/523,346, filed Oct. 24, 2014, which is herein incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND

During a recording or live performance, musicians and singers oftendesire the freedom of being able to have their musical instrument orvoice audio signals being connected to recording or amplificationdevices without the encumbrance of an electrical cable.

Analog wireless systems that transmit audio signals over radiofrequencies have existed for many decades and have been a viablesolution but they include many limitations. Analog transmission systemsfor audio signals typically have limited bandwidth and dynamic range.The analog transmission system also is susceptible to unwanted radiointerference being heard through the audio system. With an analogsystem, as the radio frequency degrades, or interference occurs, theaudio quality degrades.

Radio signals, whether for analog or digital audio systems, fade overdistance and are susceptible to fades from reflections that can causethe radio signal to be of an insufficient level at a receiver's antenna.Professional wireless systems often utilize a space diversity design, inwhich two antennas are used, either with a switch to a single receiveror to two independent receivers, in order to improve the likelihood thatat least one of the antennas or receivers will pick up the radio signaladequately. Further spatial diversity can be achieved by separating thetwo antennas further, which can be achieved with remote antennasconnected via a coaxial cable of sufficient quality so as to not degradethe RF signal being picked up by the remote antennas.

In typical digital wireless systems, once the radio signal has degradedto a level in which the digital data is unreadable, the audio signalmust be muted. If using an existing digital protocol such as Wi-Fi, thereceiver can request the retransmission of the digital audio data.Unfortunately, latency (e.g., delay time) is introduced to allow timefor the retransmission. In many cases, the latency associated with thewireless transmission of digital audio can be easily tolerated. Forexample, digitally transmitting audio that is being played from arecording can contain latency in the tens of milliseconds without beingobvious to the listener.

On the other hand, performers of live music can tolerate only very lowlatency (e.g., 5 milliseconds or less) before the latency can negativelyaffect the performance and interaction of musicians. As a result,present techniques for the retransmission of digital audio are not aviable solution because of the amount of time required forretransmission. Unfortunately, as commonly occurs when the RF signal ofthe digital audio is not properly received in real time, whether it isout of range or due to interference, some portion of the digital audiosignal is lost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one exemplary system for wirelesstransmission of digital audio signals.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one exemplary system for wirelesstransmission of digital audio signals.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary venue where one embodiment ofa system for a real-time wireless receiver network is used for thewireless transmission of digital audio signals.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system for areal-time wireless receiver network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes oneembodiment of a Remote Digital Antenna (hereinafter “RDA”) and oneembodiment of a Remote Digital Antenna Digital Receiver (hereinafter“RDADR”).

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes oneembodiment of an RDA with varying designs for achieving spatialdiversity and one embodiment of an RDADR.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes multipleRDAs that receive digital audio signals on a specified channel.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes multipleRDAs that receive digital audio signals on two specified channels.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes multipleRDAs that receive digital audio signals on multiple specified channelsand provide the corresponding digital audio signals to multiple RDADRs.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes multipleRDAs that receive digital audio signals on multiple specified channelsand provide the digital audio signals to an audio output device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, the various embodiments of a system andmethod for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network will bedescribed in detail. However, such details are included to facilitateunderstanding of a system and method for a redundant real-time wirelessreceiver network and to describe exemplary embodiments for implementinga system and method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network.Such details should not be used to limit a system and method for aredundant real-time wireless receiver network to the particularembodiments described because other variations and embodiments arepossible while staying within the scope of a system and method for aredundant real-time wireless receiver network. Furthermore, althoughnumerous details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of a system and method for a redundant real-time wirelessreceiver network, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthese specific details are not required in order to practice a systemand method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network. In otherinstances, details such as, well-known methods, types of data,protocols, procedures, components, processes, interfaces, electricalstructures, circuits, etc. are not described in detail, or are shown inblock diagram form, in order not to obscure a system and method for aredundant real-time wireless receiver network. Furthermore, aspects of asystem and method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver networkwill be described in particular embodiments but may be implemented inhardware, software, firmware, middleware, or a combination thereof.

In the following description, certain terminology is used to describefeatures of the invention. For example, a “component,” or “computingdevice,” or “client device, or “computer” includes hardware and/orsoftware module(s) that are configured to perform one or more functions.

Further, a “processor” is logic that processes information. Examples ofa processor include a central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a micro-controller, a finite state machine, a fieldprogramming gate array (FPGA), combinatorial logic, etc.

A “module” or “software module” is executable code such as an operatingsystem, an application, an applet, or a routine. Modules may be storedin any type of memory, namely suitable storage medium such as aprogrammable electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, avolatile memory (e.g., random access memory, etc.), a non-volatilememory (e.g., read-only memory, flash memory, etc.), a floppy diskette,an optical disk (e.g., compact disk or digital versatile disc “DVD”), ahard drive disk, tape, or any kind of interconnect (defined below).

A “connector,” “interconnect,” or “link” is generally defined as aninformation-carrying medium that establishes a communication pathway.Examples of the medium include a physical medium (e.g., electricalcable, electrical fiber, optical fiber, bus traces, etc.) or a wirelessmedium (e.g., air in combination with wireless signaling technology).

“Information” or “data stream” is defined as data, address, control, orany combination thereof. For transmission, information may betransmitted as a message, namely a collection of bits in a predeterminedformat. One particular type of message is a frame including a header anda payload, each having a predetermined number of bits of information.

Embodiments relate to a system and a method for a real-time wirelessreceiver network. In one embodiment, a plurality of RDAs is coupled to aRemote Digital Antenna Digital Receiver (“RDADR”) via a digital bus. Inthis embodiment, the RDADR includes a processor and the multitude ofRDAs includes a first Remote Digital Antenna (“RDA”) that includes aprocessor and a second RDA that includes a processor. In thisembodiment, the first RDA, the second RDA, and all the other RDAs fromthe multitude of RDAs attempt to receive one or more digital signalsfrom a transmitter. If the one or more digital signals are receivedwithout an error (hereinafter “the one or more error-free digitalsignals”) by the first RDA, the second RDA, or any other RDA from themultitude of RDAs, then the RDA that received the one or more error-freedigital signals sends the one or more error-free digital signals to theRDADR using the digital bus. Additional features and/or advantages areprovided in the description of embodiments provided herein.

With reference now to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is an illustration of one exemplarysystem 100 for the wireless transmission of digital audio signals thatis presently utilized.

System 100 may include an audio source, a digital receiver with internalor attached antennas, and an audio output device. Each of thestructures, features, and/or characteristics of system 100 are describedin more detail below.

In system 100, an audio source, such as musical instrument 103 and/ormicrophone 101, that can generate an analog audio signal and/or adigital audio signal may be coupled to a transmitter (not shown). Itshould be appreciated that the audio source is not limited to musicalinstrument 103 and/or microphone 101. The audio source can be a musicalinstrument, a microphone, and/or any device that is used to generateanalog audio signals and/or digital audio signals as is known in theart. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that musical instrument 103may be a guitar, a piano, a keyboard, a bass, and/or any musicalinstrument known in the art.

Typically, musical instrument 103 and/or microphone 101 is coupled tothe transmitter via a wired connector (analog or digital), such as anelectric cable or other cable that is known in the art. Additionally,musical instrument 103 and/or microphone 101 may have the transmitterdirectly attached or built into musical instrument 103 and/or microphone101. Musical instrument 103 and/or microphone 101 can be used togenerate one or more analog digital audio signals and/or digital audiosignals that are processed by the transmitter (not shown) into one ormore digital audio signals 115. The transmitter (not shown) can transmitthe one or more digital audio signals 115 to digital receiver 109, whichhas antennas 111 and 113. Antennas 111 and 113 can be attached todigital receiver 109, or alternatively, antennas 111-113 can be builtinto digital receiver 109 so as to give the facade of digital receiver109 being one device without any antennas.

The one or more digital audio signals 115 received by digital receiver109 can be processed, by digital receiver 109, back into the one or moreanalog audio signals that were generated by musical instrument 103and/or microphone 101. In addition, digital receiver 109 can send theone or more digital audio signals 115 and/or the one or more analogdigital audio signals that were generated by the audio source to anaudio output device.

The audio output device can be a play-back device (e.g., an amplifier ora public address system with speakers 117) and/or a computer 107 forstorage 105. It should be appreciated that the audio output device isnot limited to a play-back device, a public address system, and/or acomputer. The audio device can be a play-back device, a computer, ananalog mixer, a digital mixer, recording equipment, and/or any audiooutput device known in the art.

With additional reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of oneexemplary system 299 for the wireless transmission of digital audiosignals that is presently utilized. System 299 of FIG. 2 is a blockdiagram illustration of system 100 of FIG. 1 that is described above.

System 299 of FIG. 2 includes audio source 202, digital transmitter 222,digital receiver 220, audio output device 230, and one or more digitalaudio signals 233. Each of the features, structures, and/orcharacteristics of system 299 are described in more detail below.

As shown in FIG. 2, audio source 202 can be a musical instrument, amicrophone, and/or any other device that can generate analog and/ordigital audio signals as is known in the art. Audio source 202 cangenerate one or more analog audio signals and/or one or more digitalaudio signals that can be sent to digital transmitter 222, which iscoupled to audio source 202.

Digital transmitter 222 may include an input device 204, an analog todigital converter (“ADC”) 206, a processor 208, a radio frequency (“RF”)transmitter 210, and an antenna 212. Digital transmitter 222 may becoupled to audio source 202. More specifically, digital transmitter 222may be coupled to audio source 202 via input device 204. Input device204 can be an analog and/or a digital input device 204.

Digital transmitter 222 may optionally include an analog to digitalconverter (“ADC”) 206 that is coupled to the input device 204 and to aprocessor 208. The one or more audio signals generated by audio source202 that are received by digital transmitter 222 can be processed intoone or more digital audio signals 233. It should be appreciated that ADC206 may or may not be utilized dependent upon the type of audio source202. In a first example, audio source 202 may be a digital musicalinstrument and/or digital microphone that generates one or more digitalaudio signals. In this first example, the digital musical instrumentand/or digital microphone may be directly coupled by digital inputdevice 204 to processor 208. In a second example, audio source 202 maybe an analog musical instrument and/or analog microphone that generatesone or more analog digital audio signals. In this second example, theanalog musical instrument and/or analog microphone may be connected viaanalog input device 204 to ADC 206 such that the one or more analogaudio signals are converted by ADC 206 into one or more digital audiosignals for processing by processor 208.

Digital transmitter 222 may include a button selectable by a user toindicate whether or not an analog or digital musical instrument ormicrophone is being utilized to turn on or off ADC 206. Alternatively,digital transmitter 222 may simply determine, via input device 204,whether a digital or analog signal is being utilized and select ordeselect ADC 206.

In either event, processor 208 may be utilized to process one or moredigital audio signals 233 that may be sent to Radio Frequency (“RF”)transmitter 210, which is coupled to processor 208 and antenna 212. RFtransmitter 210 may utilize antenna 212 to transmit the one or moredigital audio signals 233 to digital receiver 220. Digital receiver 220includes RF receiver #1 216, RF receiver #2 218, processor 224, digitalto analog converter (“DAC”) 226, and output device 228, each of whichare described below.

RF receiver #1 216 and RF receiver #2 218 may use antenna 214 andantenna 231, respectively, to receive the one or more digital signals233 from digital transmitter 210. It should be appreciated that two RFreceivers and two antennas are used by system 299 to increase thelikelihood that the one or more digital audio signals 233 are receivedwithout any errors (“one or more error-free digital audio signals”). Itshould also be appreciated that more than two RF receivers and/or morethan two antennas may be used by system 299, to increase the likelihoodthat the one or more digital audio signals are received without anyerrors.

If the one or more error-free digital signals 233 are received by RFreceiver #1 216 and/or RF receiver #2 218, the one or more error-freedigital signals 233 can be sent to processor 224, which is coupled to RFreceiver #1 216 and/or RF receiver #2 218. Processor 224 can decode theone or more error-free digital signals 233.

Digital receiver 220 may optionally include a DAC 226 coupled toprocessor 224 to convert the one or more error-free digital signals 233that were processed by processor 224 into one or more analog audiosignals.

It should be noted that DAC 226 may or may not be utilized dependentupon the type of audio source 202 and/or audio output device 230. In afirst example, audio source 202 may be a digital musical instrumentand/or digital microphone that generates a digital audio signal withoutany conversion from an analog audio. In a second example, audio source202 may be an analog musical instrument and/or analog microphone, whichwould necessitate converting the transmitted digital audio signal backinto an analog audio signal by DAC 226. In this second example, audiooutput device 230, which is coupled to digital receiver 220, may only beable to process analog audio signals. In this second example, the one ormore error-free digital signals 233 that are processed by processor 224will be sent to DAC 226 for conversion into one or more analog audiosignals.

Digital receiver 220 may include a button selectable by a user toindicate whether or not an audio source and/or an audio output device isanalog or digital, so that digital receiver 220 can turn on or off DAC226. Alternatively, digital receiver 220 may simply determine whether adigital or analog signal is needed and select or deselect DAC 226.

In either event, the error-free digital audio signals 233 can be sentfrom processor 224 and/or DAC 226 to output device 228 of digitalreceiver 220, which may send the error-free digital audio signals 233 toaudio output device 230. Audio output device 230 is coupled to digitalreceiver 220. Audio output device 230 can be one or more amplifiers,recording devices, recording equipment, mixers, computers, stereos,and/or other audio output devices that are well known in the art.

Radio signals, whether for analog or digital audio systems, fade overdistance and are susceptible to fades from reflections that can causethe radio signal to be of insufficient level at a receiver's antenna.Current professional wireless systems previously described, such assystem 100 of FIGS. 1 and system 299 of FIG. 2, often utilize a spacediversity design, in which two or more antennas are used, either with aswitch to a single receiver or to two or more independent receivers, inorder to improve the likelihood that at least one of the antennas and/orreceivers will pick up the radio signal adequately. Further, spatialdiversity can be improved by separating the two antennas further. Thismay be accomplished with remote antennas connected via one or morecoaxial cables of sufficient quality so as not to degrade the RF signalbeing picked up by the remote antennas. Unfortunately, there is often alow likelihood that one or more of the transmitted radio signals will bepicked up adequately by current designs, which results in situationswhere the RF signal of the digital audio is not properly received inreal time, either because the RF signal is out of range or because ofinterference, and thus at least some portion of the digital audio signalis lost and/or distorted by errors.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary venue 300 where one embodimentof a system for a real-time wireless receiver network is used for thewireless transmission of digital audio signals.

As shown in venue 300 of FIG. 3, the system for a real-time wirelessreceiver network may comprise: Remote Digital Antenna (“RDA”) 307, RDA309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, RDA 317, RDA Digital Receiver (“RDADR”)305, one or more audio sources that are used by performer 301 togenerate one or more audio signals, one or more transmitters (not shown)to transmit the generated audio signal(s), a mixer 325, and at least oneaudio output device 303.

Performer 301 may use one or more audio sources, such as, but notlimited to a microphone and/or a musical instrument, to communicate withaudience 319 in venue 300. In one embodiment, the audio source(s) usedby performer 301 generates one or more audio signals. In one embodiment,the one or more audio signals are converted into one or more digitalaudio signals by a transmitter, which transmits the one or more digitalaudio signals to Remote Digital Antenna (“RDA”) 307, RDA 309, RDA 311,RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317.

RDAs, such as RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA317, comprise at least one antenna and at least one radio frequency(“RF”) receiver that enables each of those RDAs to receive one or moredigital audio signals from a transmitter. For example, RDA 307 includesany number of RF receivers, that could be denoted by a variable such as“M” and each RF receiver of “M” RF receivers has any number of antennas,that could be denoted by a variable such as “N.” Additional detailsabout an RDA comprising at least one antenna and at least one RFreceiver may be found in FIGS. 4-10, each of which is described below.

RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 may becoupled to each other and to RDADR 305 in a series configuration, apoint-to-point configuration, a bus configuration, a star configuration,a ring configuration, a mesh configuration, a tree configuration, adaisy chain configuration and/or a hybrid configuration via digital bus321.

Digital bus 321 may be synchronous or asynchronous. In one embodiment,digital bus 321 may be a bi-directional or uni-directional digital busthat comprises any wired digital methodology known in the art. For afirst example, the digital bus can a bidirectional bus that is made froma wired digital methodology such as a twisted-pair transmission line.For a second example, the digital bus 321 may be standardized to conformwith Category 6 cables (“CAT 6 cables”) and/or Category 6a cables (“CAT6a cables”), both of which have been standardized by theTelecommunications Industry Association (“TIA”).

In one embodiment, RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/orRDA 317 may be connected, via digital bus 321, to RDA Digital Receiver(“RDADR”) 305. RDADR 305 may be a base unit that processes and/ordecodes one or more digital signals received from the RDAs. In oneembodiment, RDADR 305 may provide power and/or user commands to each ofRDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317. In oneembodiment, RDADR 305, may contain at least one antenna and/or at leastone RF receiver, and can use the at least one antenna and/or at leastone RF receiver to attempt to receive one or more error-free digitalaudio signals from a transmitter if the RDAs, such as RDA 307, RDA 309,RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317, are unable to receiveerror-free versions of the digital audio signals.

In one embodiment, each RDA, such as each of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311,RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317, may be connected via its output andits input to digital bus 321. This enables each of the RDAs to beconnected in a redundant network. It should be appreciated that althoughonly six RDAs are shown in FIG. 3, the number of RDAs can be greaterthan or less than six RDAs. In other words, any number of RDAs may beutilized.

In one embodiment, each of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315,and/or RDA 317 attempts to receive one or more radio frequency (“RF”)digital audio signal(s) from one or more specified radio frequencies,e.g., one or more specified channels. As used herein, a “specifiedchannel” and its variations refer to one or more wireless channels thathave been specifically reserved for the transmission of one or moresignals by a transmitter and/or for the receiving of one or more signalsby an RDA so that the RDA can receive digital audio signals, via its oneor more receivers, using the specifically reserved channel(s). In oneembodiment, the one or more specified channels are used by thetransmitter(s) to transmit the one or more digital audio signals.

In one embodiment, if one or more of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313,RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 receives the one or more digital audio signalswithout any errors or distortions, e.g., the one or more error-freedigital audio signals, then the one or more RDAs of RDA 307, RDA 309,RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 that received the error-freedigital audio signal(s) outputs the error-free digital audio signal(s)onto the digital bus 321 so that the other RDAs obtain the signal(s) andso that at least one of the RDAs provides the signal(s) to RDADR 305.

In one embodiment, if one or more of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313,RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 is not able to receive the error-free digitalaudio signal(s), then the one or more RDAs of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311,RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 that did not receive the error-freedigital audio signal(s) will instead pass the error-free digital audiosignal(s) received on its digital bus input through to its digital busoutput onto digital bus 321.

In one embodiment, if one or more of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313,RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 receives the one or more digital audio signalswith errors, interference, and/or distortions, e.g., one or moreerror-filled digital audio signals, then the one or more RDAs of RDA307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317 that receivedthe one or more error-filled digital audio signals will instead pass theerror-free digital audio signal(s) received on its digital bus inputthrough to its digital bus output onto digital bus 321. In this way, anumber of RDA units, such as, but not limited to RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA311, RDA 313, RDA 315, and/or RDA 317, can be coupled to each otherusing one or more configurations as described above in FIG. 3, so thatthe RDADR 305 will always receive the error-free digital audio signal(s)as long as at least one of the RDA units is able to receive the digitalaudio signal(s) correctly.

One benefit of the previously described real-time wireless receivernetwork that is used in venue 300 of FIG. 3, is that one or more RDAunits could be dispersed over a large area, effectively increasing therange of a wireless audio source to as large an area as desired basedsolely on the number of redundant RDA units deployed. As in thepreviously described example, six RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313, 315, and 317are deployed over venue 300, which could be a large stadium orperformance hall. It should be appreciated that any suitable number ofRDAs may be deployed in a venue, such as venue 300.

In one embodiment, each RDA deployed in venue 300 may attempt to passgood digital audio data on in both directions of the digital bus, e.g.,the good digital audio data can be passed using the inputs and/or theoutputs of the RDAs onto the digital bus. This means that the digitalbus may operate as a bidirectional bus so that all RDAs and/or RDADRsthat are connected via the digital bus to any other RDA that receivedthe good audio data can receive the error-free digital audio signal(s).

The previously described system used in venue 300 of FIG. 3 ensures thatthe only time in which there is not good audio data and/or error-freedigital audio signal(s) on the digital bus is when none of the connectedRDAs assigned to a specific wireless channel are able to receive goodaudio data and/or error-free digital audio signal(s) (e.g., when thetransmitter is off). In this example, one or more of RDAs 307, 309, 311,313, 315, and/or 317 flags the digital audio signal(s) that could not bereceived as bad digital audio signal(s) and notifies a base unit or areceiving unit, such as the RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313, 315, 317 and/orRDADR 305, of the bad digital audio signal(s), so that the base unit orthe receiving unit mutes any specified channels associated with the baddigital audio data. As used herein, “muting a specified channel” and itsvariations refers to enabling an RDA or an RDADR to output silent audiosignals in place of digital audio that have been flagged as bad digitalaudio signal(s) because none of one or more RDAs and/or RDADRs assignedto a specific wireless channel were able to receive good audio dataand/or error-free digital audio signal(s) on that specified channel.

In one embodiment, each RDA, such as each of RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313,315, and/or 317, that is connected via a digital bus, such as thedigital bus 321, is configured to receive digital signal(s) using aspecified channel (not shown) and to pass the error-free digitalsignal(s) that were received via the specified channel onto the digitalbus.

In one embodiment, each RDA, such as each of RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313,315, and/or 317, is configured to pass the data its receivers receivedonto a digital bus, such as digital bus 321. In this embodiment each RDAis also configured to pass on data (i.e., the error-free digitalsignal(s)) that was received via the other specified channels that wereassigned to the other RDAs and passed onto digital bus 321 by theseother RDAs. In other words, each RDA, such as each of RDAs 307, 309,311, 313, 315, and/or 317, passes on all data on the digital bus, suchas digital bus 321, from any additional wireless channels that the RDAwas not to be assigned to, so that all digital data that was receivedvia all the specified channels are available on every node, to everyRDA, and/or to every RDADR in a system that is used in a venue, such thesystem that is used in venue 300. For example, if RDA 307 receiveserror-free digital signal(s) via a wireless channel 1 (not shown), RDA309 receives error-free digital signal(s) via a wireless channel 2 (notshown), RDA 311 receives error-free digital signal(s) via a wirelesschannel 3 (not shown), RDA 313 receives error-free digital signal(s) viaa wireless channel 4 (not shown), RDA 315 receives error-free digitalsignal(s) via a wireless channel 5 (not shown), and RDA 317 receiveserror-free digital signal(s) via wireless channel 6 (not shown), theneach of RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313, 315, and/or 317 will pass theerror-free digital signal(s) that it received via its specified channelonto digital bus 321. In this example, each of RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313,315, and/or 317 will also pass on the error-free digital signal(s) ondigital bus 321 that were received by the other RDAs via the otherspecified channels that the RDA was not assigned. In this way, each ofthe six RDAs of FIG. 3 receive error-free digital signals via adifferent channel, and all six RDAs of FIG. 3 allow all error-free datareceived using the six different channels to pass through their inputsand/or outputs (via digital bus 321) so that all data received using all6 channels is available to each of RDA 307, RDA 309, RDA 311, RDA 313,RDA 315, RDA 317 and/or RDADR 305, even though the one or more receiversof each of RDAs 307, 309, 311, 313, 315, and/or 317 can only receivedata via one specified channel.

In one embodiment, RDADR 305 is coupled, via an optional analog/digitalbus 323, to a mixer 325 and/or one or more audio output devices 303.RDADR 305 processes and/or decodes the one or more error-free digitalsignals and sends the processed and/or decoded signals to the mixer 325and/or the one or more audio output devices 303. For example, each ofthe audio output devices 303 may be a play-back device that receivesaudio signals that are processed by the mixer 325. The audio outputdevices 303 may also be a play-back device, a computer, a piece ofrecording equipment, a mixer, and/or any other type of audio outputdevice known in the art. The at least one mixer 325 may be a digitalmixer, an analog mixer, and/or any other type of mixer known in the art.It will be appreciated that more than one mixer 325 may be used in thesystem that is used in venue 300.

The analog/digital bus 323 that couples RDADR 305 to the mixer 325and/or the audio output devices 303 may be a bidirectional bus, auni-directional bus, and/or any other bus known in the art. Furthermore,analog/digital bus 323 can be an asynchronous bus or a synchronous bus.In one embodiment, analog/digital bus 323 can be a bus that isconfigured to send analog and/or digital data back and forth between twoor more components, such as RDADR 305, mixer 325, and/or one or moreaudio output devices 303. In one embodiment, analog/digital bus 323 is adigital bus that is configured to send digital data back and forthbetween RDADR 305, mixer 325, and/or one or more audio output devices303. In one embodiment, analog/digital bus 323 is an analog bus that isconfigured to send analog data back and forth between RDADR 305, mixer325, and/or one or more audio output devices 303. In one embodiment, thedecision of whether analog/digital bus 323 is a digital bus or an analogbus is based on whether RDADR 305, mixer 325, and/or one or more audiooutput devices 303 is designed to process digital data or analog data.

In one embodiment, analog/digital bus 323 is not used to couple RDADR305 to mixer 325 and/or one or more audio output devices 303. In thisembodiment, RDADR 305 is coupled to mixer 325 and/or audio outputdevices 303 via any other analog/digital coupling technology known inthe art. In this embodiment, the decision of whether the analog/digitalcoupling technology transfers digital data or analog data is based onwhether RDADR 305, mixer 325, and/or one or more audio output devices303 is designed to process digital data or analog data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system 400for a real-time wireless receiver network. System 400 provides moredetails about an embodiment of a system for a real-time wirelessreceiver network that is used for the wireless transmission of digitalaudio signals, such as the system that is described above in FIG. 3.

System 400 may comprise audio source 401, digital transmitter 403, RDA#1 405, RDA #2 407, RDA #N 409, RDADR 411, audio output device 413,storage device 415, and digital bus 429. Each feature, structure, and/orcharacteristic of system 400 is discussed below.

Digital transmitter 403 may include input device 427, ADC 417, processor419, RF transmitter 421, and antenna 423. RDA #1 405 may be similar toRDAs 307, 309, 311, 313, 315, and/or 317 that are described above withreference to FIG. 3. In one embodiment, RDA #1 405 may be coupled to RDA#2 407 and a predetermined number of other RDAs denoted by the number“N,” so that the last RDA is RDA #N 409 using a series configuration, apoint-to-point configuration, a bus configuration, a star configuration,a ring configuration, a mesh configuration, a tree configuration, adaisy chain configuration and/or a hybrid configuration. RDA #N 409 maybe coupled to RDADR 411. RDADR 411 may be similar to RDADR 305 that isdescribed above with reference to FIG. 3. In one embodiment, digital bus429 is used to couple RDADR 411, RDA #1 405, RDA #2 407, and thepredetermined number of other RDAs denoted by the number “N,” so thatthe last RDA is RDA #N 409. Digital bus 429 may be similar to or thesame as digital bus 321 that is described above in FIG. 3. For example,digital bus 429 enables RDADR 411, and each of the RDAs between RDA #1405, RDA #2 407, and RDA #N 409 to transmit/receive digital signalsbi-directionally to/from each other.

RDADR 411 may be coupled to audio output device 413, which is similar toone or more of the audio output devices that are described above withreference to FIG. 3. RDADR 411 may also be coupled to storage device415. Further, storage device 415 may be coupled to the audio outputdevice 413. In one embodiment, storage device 415 may be used to storeone or more error-free digital signals 425 that are provided to theaudio output device 413. In one embodiment, storage device 415 may beused to store one or more error-free digital signals 425 that have beenprocessed and/or decoded by RDADR 411. In one embodiment, an optionalbus 430 is used to couple RDADR 411 to audio output device and/orstorage device 415. Optional bus 430 may be similar to or the same asbus 323 that is described above in FIG. 3.

In one embodiment, optional bus 430 is not used to couple RDADR 411 toaudio output device 413 and/or storage device 415. In this embodiment,RDADR 411 is coupled to audio output device 413 and/or storage device415 via any other analog/digital coupling technology known in the art.In this embodiment, the decision of whether the analog/digital couplingtechnology transfers digital data or analog data is based on whetherRDADR 411, audio output device 413, and/or storage device 415 aredesigned to process digital data or analog data.

Storage device 415 may be any sort of storage medium that is known inthe art. For example, storage device 415 can be persistent storage,storage that temporarily stores the audio signal(s), floppy disks,optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories(ROMs), RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic cards, optical cards, and/or anytype of media suitable for storing analog and/or digital audio signals,processed audio signals, and/or decoded audio signals.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem 500 for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes oneembodiment of Remote Digital Antenna (“RDA”) 501 and one embodiment of aRDA digital receiver (“RDADR”) 503.

The portion of system 500 described below provides more details aboutembodiments of RDAs and RDADRs of systems, such as the RDAs and RDADRsof the systems previously described in FIGS. 3 to 4 above. This portionof system 500 includes RDA 501, one or more RDAs 505, RDADR 503, audiooutput device 535, storage device 537, digital bus 539, digital bus 541,analog bus 543, and one or more digital audio signals 507. Each feature,structure, and/or characteristic of this portion of system 500 isdescribed in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 5, RDA 501, one or more RDAs 505, and RDADR 503 arecoupled to each other via a digital bus 539. Digital bus 539 may be abidirectional bus, a uni-directional bus, or any bus that is known inthe art. Furthermore, digital bus 539 can be an asynchronous bus or asynchronous bus.

In one embodiment, RDA 501, one or more RDAs 505, and RDADR 503 arecoupled to each other via digital bus 539 in a series configuration, apoint-to-point configuration, a bus configuration, a star configuration,a ring configuration, a mesh configuration, a tree configuration, adaisy chain configuration and/or a hybrid configuration. In oneembodiment, a redundant topology utilizing digital bus 539 can be usedto couple RDA 501, one or more RDAs 505, and RDADR 503 to each other inat least one of a series configuration, a point-to-point configuration,a bus configuration, a star configuration, a ring configuration, a meshconfiguration, a tree configuration, a daisy chain configuration or ahybrid configuration. In this embodiment, the redundant topologyprovides cable redundancy to system 500 so that if a coupling (i.e., oneor more cables of digital bus 539) that is used to couple RDA 501, oneor more RDAs 505, and RDADR 503 to each other fails, data can still betransferred via other couplings of the redundant topology. In otherwords, any one cable in the loop can fail and the system will stillfunction. For example, if a coupling of digital bus 539 that couplesRDADR 503 directly with RDAs 505 fails, then data that needs to be sentbetween RDADR 503 and RDAs 505 can still be sent via a coupling ofdigital bus 539 that couples RDADR 503 with RDA 501, as well as, via acoupling of digital bus 539 that couples RDA 501 with RDAs 505.

System 500 also includes digital bus 541. Digital bus 541 can be a busthat is configured to send digital data back and forth between two ormore components, such as RDADR 503, storage device 537, and/or audiooutput device 535. In one embodiment, digital bus 541 is digital busthat is configured to send digital data back and forth between RDADR503, storage device 537, and/or audio output device 535.

System 500 can optionally include analog bus 543. Analog bus 543 can bea bus that is configured to send analog data back and forth betweenRDADR 503, storage device 537, and/or audio output device 535. In oneembodiment, the decision of whether to include analog bus 541 in system500 is based on whether audio output device 535 is designed to processdigital data or analog data and/or whether storage device 537 isdesigned to store digital data or analog data.

Each of digital bus 541 and optional analog bus 543 can be abidirectional bus, a uni-directional bus, or any other type of bus thatis known in the art. Further, each of digital bus 541 and analog bus 543can be a synchronous bus or an asynchronous bus. In one embodiment,digital bus 541 is used to couple audio output device 535 and/or storagedevice 537 with processor 527 of RDADR 503. In one embodiment, analogbus 543 is used to couple audio output device 535 and/or storage device537 with DAC 533 of RDADR 503.

In one embodiment, RDA 501 of FIG. 5 comprises processor 525, RFreceiver #1 521, RF receiver #2 523, antenna 509, antenna 511, antenna513, antenna 515, switch #1 517, and switch #2 519. In one embodiment,antenna 509, antenna 511, antenna 513, and antenna 515 work togetherwith switch #1 517, and switch #2 519 to achieve spatial diversity so asto improve the likelihood that one or more digital audio signals 507 arereceived by RDA 501 without any errors or distortions. In oneembodiment, antennae 509, 511, 513, and 515 receive signals 507 via oneor more specified channels. Given that the use of antennas with switchesto receive one or more error-free digital audio signals is well known inthe art, the operations of antenna 509, antenna 511, antenna 513,antenna 515, switch #1 517, and switch #2 519 will not be discussed indetail.

In one embodiment, RDA 501 includes RF receiver #1 521 and RF receiver#2 523 that work with switch #1 517, and switch #2 519, respectively, toreceive one or more error-free signals 507. In one embodiment, unlikeprevious implementations, the error-free signals 507 being output and/orprovided by RDA 501 are not raw analog RF signal(s). This means that, inone embodiment, RDA 501 includes RF receiver #1 521 and RF receiver #2523 to enable it to receive the one or more error-free signals 507 intheir digital format and to enable it to provide the digital versions ofthe error-free audio signal(s) onto digital bus 539.

In one embodiment, RF receiver #1 521 and/or RF receiver #2 523 providethe received error-free signal(s) 507 to processor 525 of RDA 501. Inone embodiment, processor 525 processes and/or decodes the one or moreerror-free signals 507. Processor 525 processes and/or decodes the oneor more error-free signals 507 to determine if the signal(s) areerror-free. In particular, processor 525 processes and/or decodes theone or more error-free signals 507 to determine the number and/orseverity of errors in the signal(s).

In one embodiment, after processing and/or decoding the one or moreerror-free signals 507, processor 525 outputs the one or more error-freesignals 507 onto digital bus 539, so that the one or more error-freesignals 507 are available to one or more RDAs 505 and/or RDADR 503. IfRDA 501 is unable to receive the one or more error-free digital signals507 using RF receiver #1 521 and/or RF receiver #2 523, then RDA 501,via processor 525, attempts to obtain the error-free digital signal(s)from one or more other RDAs 505 using digital bus 539.

In this embodiment, RDA 501 has an increased likelihood of receiving theerror-free signal(s) 507 because RDA 501 can receive the one or moreerror-free signals 507 from RF receiver #1 521, RF receiver #2 523,and/or RDAs 505.

In one embodiment, digital bus 539 is used by RDA 501 and/or RDAs 505 toprovide the one or more error-free signals 507 to RDADR 503. RDADR 503includes a processor 527, and a digital to analog converter (“DAC”) 533,which are described below.

In one embodiment, processor 527 of RDADR 503 comprises a user commandmodule 529 and a power supply module 531. User command module 529 isincluded in RDADR 503 to enable a user to provide at least one usercommand to RDADR 503 that is sent to RDA 501 and/or RDAs 505, viadigital bus 539. For example, at least one user command includesinformation about the digital audio signal(s) 507 that are to betransmitted, information about at least one specified channel that willbe used to transmit the digital signal(s) 507, information related tosetting up one or more parameters of RDA 501 and/or RDAs 505,information related to decoding, processing, and/or reporting ofnon-audio data received from the transmitter, information related todiagnostic data about the one or more signals 507, and informationrelated to a predicted form of the one or more error-free signals 507.In one embodiment, diagnostic data includes radio strength, error rate,and/or any other characteristics of digital audio signals that are knownin the art.

In one embodiment, power supply module 531 of processor 527 is used byRDADR 503 to provide power to RDA 501 and/or RDAs 505 via digital bus539. In one embodiment, one or more inputs of RDA 501 and/or RDAs 505are coupled to RDADR 503 using a digital bus 539 that has beenstandardized to CAT 6 cable and/or the CAT 6a cable specifications, asdescribed above. Using a digital bus 539 that conforms to the CAT 6cable and/or the CAT 6a cable specifications simplifies setup and cableselection for embodiments of a system for a real-time wireless receivernetwork that is used for the wireless transmission of digital audiosignals. Given that provision of power to devices using a CAT 6 cableand/or a CAT 6a cable is well known, it is not discussed in detail.

In one embodiment, processor 527 of RDADR 503 processes and/or decodesthe one or more error-free signals 507. In one embodiment, processor 527processes and/or decodes the error-free digital signals 507 to combinenon-audio data with the error-free digital audio signal(s) or to performa user pre-defined function that is included in a user command. In oneembodiment, the processed or unprocessed error-free signal(s) 507 areprovided by processor 527 to a DAC 533 for further processing to convertthe error-free signal(s) 507 from their digital forms into analog forms.In one embodiment, RDADR 503 provides the unprocessed or processederror-free digital audio signal(s) to audio output device 535. Audiooutput devices have been previously described. In one embodiment, audiooutput device 535 may provide the unprocessed or processed error-freedigital audio signal(s) to storage device 537 for storage.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem 600 for a real-time wireless receiver network that includes oneembodiment of Remote Digital Antenna (“RDA”) with varying forms ofachieving spatial diversity and one embodiment of a digital receiver.

System 600 of FIG. 6 is a modification of system 500 of FIG. 5 that isdescribed above. Some of features, structures, and/or characteristics ofsystem 500 of FIG. 5 described above can be similar to or the same assome of the corresponding features, structures, or characteristics ofsystem 600 of FIG. 6, and as a result, are identified with the samereference numerals. For the sake of brevity, only the differencesbetween system 600 and system 500 will be described in the discussionrelating to FIG. 6.

One difference between system 600 and system 500 relates to the varyingdesigns of spatial diversity that can be used to improve the likelihoodthat RDA 501 receives the error-free digital signals 507 from atransmitter. In one embodiment of system 600, spatial diversity isachieved by using varying designs of antennas with each of RF receiver#1 521 and RF receiver #2 523. In one embodiment, RF receiver #1 521retains the same design that was described above in FIG. 500, with theonly difference being that details have been added to show some innerstructures of switch #1 517. In one embodiment, RF receiver #2 523 has adesign that was not described by FIG. 500. In this embodiment, RFreceiver #2 523 is connected to a single antenna 601.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem 700 for a real-time wireless receiver network that includesmultiple RDAs that receive digital audio signals on a specified channel.The portion of system 700 described below provides more details aboutembodiments of RDAs and RDADRs of systems, such as the RDAs and RDADRsof the systems described above with regard to FIGS. 3 to 6. Somefeatures, structures, and/or characteristics of the portion of system700 that is described below can be similar or the same as some of thecorresponding features, structures, or characteristics of the systems ofFIGS. 3 to 6 that were described above. For the sake of brevity, onlythe differences between system 700 and the systems of FIGS. 3 to 6 willbe described in the discussion relating to FIG. 700.

This portion of system 700 includes multiple RDAs. As shown in FIG. 7,this portion of system 700 includes RDA #1 701, RDA #2 703, RDADR 705,audio output device 707, digital bus 711, digital bus 713, analog bus714, and one or more digital audio signals 709. In one embodiment ofsystem 700 and as described above in system 300 of FIG. 3, multiple RDAsattempt to receive one or more digital audio signals from one or morespecified radio frequencies, e.g., one or more specified channels. Theone or more specified channels are used by the transmitter to transmitthe one or more digital audio signals. For example, there may be twoRDAs 701 and 703 that are configured to attempt to receive the one ormore digital audio signals 709 from a transmitter (not shown) on aspecified channel that is designated as “CH 1.” Furthermore, thisembodiment of system 700 includes a RDADR 705 that is also assigned tothe specified channel “CH 1” and to the two RDAs 701 and 703 so thatonly the one or more error-free digital audio signals 709 that areobtained on the specified channel “CH 1” are processed and/or decoded byRDADR 705 and then sent to audio output device 707.

It should be appreciated that even though only two RDAs are shown inthis embodiment of system 700, more or less than two RDAs can be used inone or more embodiments of system 700. It should also be appreciatedthat even though only one specified channel is shown in this embodimentof system 700, more than one specified channel can be used in one ormore embodiments of system 700. Furthermore, it should be appreciatedthat even though only one RDADR is shown in this embodiment of system700, more than one RDADR can be used in one or more embodiments ofsystem 700. It should be appreciated that even though only one audiooutput device is shown in this embodiment of system 700, more than oneaudio output device can be used in one or more embodiments of system700.

As shown in FIG. 7, RDA #1 701, RDA #2 703, and RDADR 705 are coupled toeach other via a digital bus 711. In one embodiment, digital bus 711 issimilar to the digital bus 539 that is described above with reference toFIG. 5. System 700 also includes digital bus 713 that is used to coupleRDADR 705 to audio output device 707. In one embodiment, digital bus 713is similar to digital bus 541 that is described above with reference toFIG. 5. Moreover, system 700 includes analog bus 714 that is also usedto couple RDADR 705 to audio output device 707. In one embodiment,analog bus 714 is similar to analog bus 543 that is described above withreference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem 800 for a real-time wireless receiver network that includesmultiple RDAs that receive digital audio signals on two specifiedchannels. The portion of system 800 described below provides moredetails about embodiments of RDAs and RDADRs of systems, such as theRDAs and RDADRs of the systems described above with regard to FIGS. 3 to7. Some features, structures, and/or characteristics of the portion ofsystem 800 that is described below can be similar or the same as some ofthe corresponding features, structures, or characteristics of thesystems of FIGS. 3 to 7 that were described above. For the sake ofbrevity, only the differences between system 800 and the systems ofFIGS. 3 to 7 will be described in the discussion relating to FIG. 800.

In one embodiment of system 800 of FIG. 8, this portion of system 800includes RDA #1 801, RDA #2 803, RDA #3 805, RDA #4 807, RDADR #1 811,RDADR #2 813, audio output device #1 815, audio output device #2 817,digital bus 819, analog/digital bus 821, analog/digital bus 823, and oneor more digital audio signals 809.

System 800 may be similar to the system 700 of FIG. 7 that is describedabove with regard to FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 8, RDA #1 801, RDA #2 803,RDA #3 805, RDA #4 807, RDADR #1 811, and RDADR #2 813 are coupled toeach other via a digital bus 819. In one embodiment, digital bus 819 issimilar to the digital bus 539 that is described above with reference toFIG. 5. System 800 also includes analog/digital bus 821 that is used tocouple RDADR #1 811 to audio output device #1 815. In one embodiment,analog/digital bus 821 is similar to digital bus 541 and/or analog bus543 that are each described above with reference to FIG. 5. Furthermore,system 800 includes analog/digital bus 823 that is used to couple RDADR#2 813 to audio output device #2 817. In one embodiment, analog/digitalbus 823 is similar to digital bus 541 and/or analog bus 543 that areeach described above with reference to FIG. 5.

In system 800, there are four RDAs 801, 803, 805, and 807 that areconfigured to attempt to receive the one or more digital audio signals809 from a transmitter (not shown) on two specified channels that aredesignated as “CH 1” and “CH 2,” respectively. In one embodiment, RDA #1801, and RDA #3 805 are assigned to receive one or more digital audiosignals on specified channel “CH 1,” while RDA #2 803 and RDA #4 807 areassigned to receive one or more digital audio signals on specifiedchannel “CH 2.” In one embodiment, the signals on “CH 1” and “CH 2” canbe generated by different audio sources (not shown) as described abovewith reference to FIG. 3.

One embodiment of system 800 includes two RDADRs 811 and 813 that areassigned to specified channel “CH 1” and specified channel “CH 2,”respectively. In one embodiment, RDADRs 811 is assigned to RDA #1 801,RDA #3 805, and/or specified channel channel “CH 1” so that only thosedigital audio signal(s) that are assigned to specified channel channel“CH 1” are processed and/or decoded by RDADR 811 and then sent to audiooutput device 815. In one embodiment, RDADRs 813 is assigned to RDA #2803, RDA #4 807, and/or specified channel “CH 2” so that only thosedigital audio signal(s) that are assigned to specified channel “CH 2”are processed and/or decoded by RDADR 813 and then sent to audio outputdevice 817.

In one embodiment, each RDA, such as each of RDAs 801, 803, 805, and/or807, is configured to pass the data its receivers received onto adigital bus, such as digital bus 819. In this embodiment, each RDA isalso configured to pass on data (i.e., the error-free digital signal(s))that was received via the other specified channels that were assigned tothe other RDAs and passed onto digital bus 819 by these other RDAs.Thus, each RDA, such as each of RDAs 801, 803, 805, and/or 807, passeson all data on the digital bus, such as digital bus 819, from anyadditional wireless channels that the RDA was not to be assigned to, sothat all digital data that was received via all the specified channels,such as channels CH 1 and CH 2, is available on every node, to everyRDA, and/or to every RDADR in a system, such system 800. In other words,each of RDA #1 801, RDA #2 803, RDA #3 805, RDA #4 807, RDADR #1 811,RDADR #2 813 provides all data obtained from its specified channel ontodigital bus 819, which in turn provides data from all channelsbidirectionally to each of RDA #1 801, RDA #2 803, RDA #3 805, RDA #4807, RDADR #1 811, RDADR #2 813. This enables system 800 to work withoutthe need for retransmission of the signals in the event of aninterference.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem 900 for a real-time wireless receiver network that includesmultiple RDAs that receive digital audio signals on multiple specifiedchannels and provide the corresponding digital audio signals to multiplereceivers.

The portion of system 900 described below provides more details aboutembodiments of RDAs and RDADRs of systems, such as the RDAs and RDADRsof the systems described above in FIGS. 3 to 8. Some features,structures, and/or characteristics of the portion of system 900 that aredescribed below can be similar or the same as some of the correspondingfeatures, structures, or characteristics of the systems of FIGS. 3 to 8that were described above. For the sake of brevity, only the differencesbetween system 900 and the systems of FIGS. 3 to 10 will be described inthe discussion relating to FIG. 900.

System 900 is similar to system 800 of FIG. 8, which is described above.In one embodiment, system 900 includes different types of RDAs. For afirst example, RDA #1 901 and RDA #2 903 are each assigned to specifiedchannel “CH 1” and “CH 2,” respectively. For a second example, multi-RDA905 is assigned to specified channels “CH 3,” “CH 4,” “CH 5,” and “CH6.” As used herein, a “multi-RDA” refers to two or more RDAs that arehoused on the same device. For the sake of brevity, it is to beappreciated that the remaining RDAs are evident from FIG. 9.

System 900 of FIG. 9 also includes different types of RDADRs. For anexample, RDADR 917 is assigned to one specified channel “CH 1,” whileRDADR 911 is assigned to multiple specified channels “CH5,” “CH 6,” “CH7,” and “CH 8.” In this example, any digital audio signals 909 that areassigned to those channels and received by at least one of the RDAs ofsystem 900 are processed and/or decoded by RDADR 911 and sent to one ormore of audio devices 935, 937, 939, and 941. In one embodiment,processors of RDADRs 911, 913, 917, and 95915 are used to determinewhich of the audio devices of system 900 are to receive one or moredigital audio signals 909. For the sake of brevity, it is to beappreciated that the remaining RDADRs are evident from FIG. 9.

System 900 also includes digital bus 951 that couples each of the RDAs,multi-RDAs, and RDADRs of system 900 to one another. For example,digital bus 951 couples the RDAs, multi-RDAs, and RDADRs of system 900using a daisy chain configuration and the single loop of the daisyconfiguration creates redundancy so that if any one cable of digital bus951 fails or is removed, then system 900 can still work due to thebidirectional manner in which digital data is passed via the digital bus951 to each of the RDAs, multi-RDAs, and RDADRs of system 900. In oneembodiment, digital bus 951 is similar to the digital bus 819 that isdescribed above in FIG. 8.

Further, system 900 includes analog/digital buses 953, 954, 955, 956,957, 958, 959, 960, 961, and 962 that are each used to couple RDADRs917, 95915, 913, and 911 to audio output devices 949, 947, 945, 943,941, 939, 937, 935, 927 and 933. In one embodiment, each ofanalog/digital buses 953, 954, 955, 956, 957, 958, 959, 960, 961, and962 is similar to analog/digital bus 821 that is described above in FIG.8.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of one embodiment of asystem 1000 for a real-time wireless receiver network that includesmultiple RDAs that receive digital audio signals on multiple specifiedchannels and provide the digital audio signals to a single audio outputdevice. The portion of system 1000 described below provides more detailsabout embodiments of systems, such as the systems described above inFIGS. 3 to 9.

In one embodiment of system 1000 of FIG. 10, this portion of system 1000includes different types of RDAs that have been assigned to at least onespecified channel. Given that the systems of FIGS. 3 to 9 have providedmost of the descriptions related to RDAs and their assignment to one ormore specified channels, that description will be omitted in thediscussion of FIG. 10.

Some features, structures, and/or characteristics of system 1000 of FIG.10 can be similar or the same as some of the corresponding features,structures, or characteristics of the systems of FIGS. 3 to 9 that weredescribed above. For the sake of brevity, only the differences betweensystem 1000 and the systems of FIGS. 3 to 9 will be described in thediscussion relating to FIG. 1000.

One difference between system 1000 and the systems of FIGS. 3 to 9relates to the audio output device of system 1000. In one embodiment,configurations of a system for a real-time wireless receiver network,such as system 1000, could exist where there is no direct analog audiooutput. In one embodiment, the digital bus, such as the digital bus1021, could be connected directly into an interface on an audio outputdevice, such as audio output device 1001. In one embodiment, audiooutput device 1001 uses the error-free digital audio signals providedvia digital bus 1021 directly in its digital form. In one embodiment, anaudio output device, such as audio output device 1001, could be adigital mixer, a computer, and/or any other type of an audio outputdevice that is well known in the art and that can process and/or decodedigital audio signals in their digital form. One embodiment of system1000 shows that there is no need for a separate RDADR, such as theoptional RDADR 1023, if the desired audio output is a digital audiooutput and thus, one embodiment of a system for a real-time wirelessreceiver network can be reduced in cost and size.

In one embodiment of system 1000, device 1001 and optional RDADR 1023share tasks of processing and/or decoding the error-free digital signalsbased on whether the desired audio output is an analog audio output or adigital audio output. In one embodiment, the audio output device 1001can include one or more modules that enable device 1001 to determinewhether the desired audio output is an analog audio output or a digitalaudio output. If the desired audio output is a digital output, thendevice 1001 processes and decodes the received error-free digitalsignals with or without the use of RDADR 1023. In one embodiment, device1001 turns off RDADR 1023 in response to device 1001 determining thatthe desired audio output is a digital audio output, and processes theerror-free digital signals without the use of RDADR 1023. In oneembodiment, device 1001 can share the processing and/or decoding of theerror-free digital signals with RDADR 1023 so that the output isprovided much faster than when device 1001 performs the tasks withoutRDADR 1023.

In one embodiment, if device 1001 determines that the desired audiooutput is an analog output, then device 1001 directs the receivederror-free digital signals to RDADR 1023 which processes the error-freedigital audio signals into an analog audio output. In this embodiment,RDADR 1023 is similar to the one or more of RDADRs 911, 913, 915, and917 that are described above in FIG. 9, and thus can process the digitalaudio signals as digital data or convert the processed digital data intoanalog data that is played back on device 1001. In this embodiment,system 1000 uses one or more processors of RDADR 1023 to process digitaldata into analog output, even though system 1000 does not include a setof buses that are capable of providing analog data back and forthbetween the RDAs 1003, 1005, 1007, 1009, 1011, 1013, 1015, 1017 and/ordevice 1001. Thus, one embodiment of system 1000 for a real-timewireless receiver network can be reduced in cost and size.

In one embodiment, an audio output device, such as device 1001, could bean analog/digital mixer, a computer, and/or any other type of an audiooutput device that is well known in the art and that can process and/ordecode digital audio signals in their analog forms and/or digital forms.

While a system and method for a redundant real-time wireless receivernetwork and its various functional components have been described inparticular embodiments, it should be appreciated the embodiments of asystem and method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver networkcan be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware or acombination thereof and utilized in systems, subsystems, components, orsub-components thereof.

When implemented in software or firmware, the elements of a system andmethod for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network are theinstructions/code segments to perform the necessary tasks. The programor code segments can be stored in a machine readable medium, such as aprocessor readable medium or a computer program product, or transmittedby a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, or a signalmodulated by a carrier, over a transmission medium or communicationlink. The machine-readable medium or processor-readable medium mayinclude any medium that can store or transfer information in a formreadable and executable by a machine (e.g. a processor, a computer,etc.). Examples of the machine/processor-readable medium include anelectronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a ROM, a flashmemory, an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), a floppy diskette, acompact disk CD-ROM, an optical disk, a hard disk, a fiber optic medium,a radio frequency (RF) link, etc. The computer data signal may includeany signal that can propagate over a transmission medium such aselectronic network channels, optical fibers, air, electromagnetic, RFlinks, etc. The code segments may be downloaded via computer networkssuch as the Internet, Intranet, etc.

While a system and method for a redundant real-time wireless receivernetwork has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments,this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense.Various modifications of the illustrative embodiments, as well as otherembodiments of the system and method for a redundant real-time wirelessreceiver network, which are apparent to persons skilled in the art towhich the system and method for a redundant real-time wireless receivernetwork pertains are deemed to lie within the spirit and scope of thesystem and method for a redundant real-time wireless receiver network.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for a real-time wireless receivernetwork, the system comprising: a Remote Digital Antenna DigitalReceiver (“RDADR”) including a processor; a first Remote Digital Antenna(“RDA”) including a processor, at least one receiver, and at least oneantenna; and a second RDA including a processor, at least one receiver,and at least one antenna; wherein the RDADR, the first RDA, and thesecond RDA are coupled to each other via a digital bus; wherein thefirst RDA and the second RDA attempt to receive one or more digitalsignals from a transmitter, and, if the one or more digital signals arereceived without an error by one of the first RDA or the second RDA, theRDA that received the one or more error-free digital signals sends theone or more error-free digital signals to the RDADR using the digitalbus.